Story Time
by Temporal Austenite
Summary: "Every night, when the storyteller sat down in his storytelling chair, the girl asked for a story." Please read and review!
1. The Good Wizard

"**I hate good wizards in fairytales. They always turn out to be him." –River Song, The Pandorica Opens**

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><p><em>Every night, when the storyteller sat down in his storytelling chair, the girl asked for a story.<br>He told tales of action and of romance, of the seen and the unseen, of both the past and the future.  
>But he'd never told her a fairytale, and there were never any princesses.<em>

_Three nights ago, she asked for one; for a wizard, or a princess, or a knight in shining armor, or something.  
>And the storyteller smiled, and told her that night's story would be the right sort of fairytale for her.<em>

_She didn't ask what he meant._

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><p><em><strong>The Good Wizard<strong>_

Once upon a time, there was this man. A good man. A hero to many. And while he was well known, few knew him well.

He traveled everywhere; never settling down. He had friends, few and far between, who he would trust with his life.

And then one day, something bad came.

The man, a hero to many, couldn't stay away. He had to find the bad thing. He had to stop it.

And when he found it, he tricked. No violence. He was always very clear about that, but when he found it, he tricked it.

He trapped it in a box. He sent the box to a different dimension. And he thought that was the end.

He made new friends; friends who didn't remind him of what he'd done. He fell in love, just once, and then he lost his love. He changed the life of one man, who changed the lives of many more.

But the box was coming back.

He lost some more people; made a few new friends.

Something else happened; and everything he knew meant he had to leave again.

He made two new friends; and lost one.

And then the box came back.

The bad thing came back. Bad things happened. Good people died. And then...

He sacrificed himself to save his friends.

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><p><em>She gave a quiet gasp, and he smiled down at her from his chair by her bed. "What is it?"<em>

"_I don't like this story. Tell a different one." She insisted. It sounded a bit silly even to her young ears, but she didn't like the sad stories. And something about the story sounded oddly familiar, which made it even worse._

"_Don't worry. Fairy tales always have a happy ending."_

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><p>He stopped the bad thing. He thought he was going to be lost forever, but he told his friend a story. A story about a box, old and new, borrowed and blue, and the man who traveled in it.<p>

And it was her wedding day. She found him in words; and she brought him back. And he danced. They all danced, but him especially.

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><p><em>And he smiled at her softly, than kissed her forehead, "Told you fairy tales always have a happy ending," he whispered. "Now get some sleep."<em>

"_Come back tomorrow?" She pleaded insistently._

"_Don't I always?"_

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><p><strong>The next chapter will be up tomorrow! Thanks for reading, please review!<strong>


	2. The Princess

"**Amelia Pond, like a name in a fairytale."—The Doctor, The Eleventh Hour**

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><p><em>She knew she wasn't supposed to tell when the man came. He had made her promise. She had asked him why, but he just winked and whispered, "Spoilers."<em>

_When he came in, he handed her a present; a picture of someone he called her mother, holding her.  
>"You used to call her 'big milk thing', but she's your mummy."<em>

"_They said I don't have one." She replied, looking at the beautiful women cradling a baby version of her, "She didn't want me."  
>"Well, they lied. They're looking for you. We'll take you home, and you'll have a mummy and a daddy. The best mummy and daddy this universe has ever seen." He ruffled her hair, "Promise. Now, I believe you asked for the tale of a princess?"<em>

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><p><em><strong>The Princess<strong>_

Once upon a time, there was a girl. A beautiful young girl, who dreamed. A little girl who wasn't afraid of anything. But there was a crack in her wall. And the crack in the wall scared her. She didn't know why, but she could not sleep while the crack existed in the wall.

And then one day a box fell from the sky, and a man came out of it. She wasn't afraid of him. The man offered to help her with the crack in her wall. He had to go back into the box, but he promised he would be back in five minutes.

He never came. Night after night, she waited out in her yard, ready to go away with him to explore new worlds.

But he never came.

And by and by, the little girl grew up.

Then one day, twelve years later, the box fell from the sky again. And the man came out, looking for the little girl.

The little girl who was gone.

He found out who she was, but the world was in danger. And when he rescued it, he left again.

Two more years passed before the man came again, and offered to take her away again.

This time she left with him.

Later, after some things happened, they picked up the man she was supposed to marry in the morning. Her knight.

But soon, she lost him. She forgot her knight.

She forgot her knight, but she still traveled with the man.

Until the bad thing came. Until the box opened.

She found her knight; and she died.

To save the universe, the man placed the girl in the box for two thousand years.

And when the box was opened, her knight was there, and so was the man.

And so was the little girl.

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><p>"<em>I know the little girl was there. You said so. She got trapped in a box and it opened and so she was there."<em>

_"Timey-wimey. The girl grew up—"_

_"Inside the box?"_

_"No. Before the box she grew up and when she came out of the box there was a younger verision of her."_

_"Princesses don't grow up."_

_"Are they magically already grown up?"_

_"Don't be silly."_

_"Well, this princess did grow up. It's very tragic, but there's always tragedy. The point is that it ends."_

_"Not always."_

_He paused and looked at her with a sigh, "No, not always. Can I finish the story now?"_

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><p>The man sacrificed himself to save everyone. But before, he went back in time and found the little girl who sat outside waiting, and brought her in. And he told her a story. A story about a daft old man who stole a blue box. A story about the days that never were.<p>

And fourteen years after that, it was her wedding day.

And she found him, the daft man in a box.

Something Old. Something New. Something Borrowed. Something Blue.

She found him in words, and brought him back.

And she had her knight come with her to travel new worlds with the man.

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><p>"<em>That sounded like the same story as last night." She complained.<em>

_"You need to stop being so clever and start being smart," He complained back, "It's not just about the story—which had its differences, by the way—but who the story is about."_

_She fell quiet for a second, then asked, "What would my story be about?"_

_He looked at her for a second, then smiled a quiet sort of smile, "Everything."_

"_Everything." At eight, it seemed she had already conquered the sound of disbelief._

"_Heros and villians and adventures and true love. Everything." She looked at him like she didn't fully believe him, "Don't you trust me?"_

_"Always." She agreed, and he gave her a kiss goodnight before he left._

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><p><strong>Thanks again for reading, and feel free to drop a review! Final Chapter up tomorrow!<strong>


	3. The Knight

"**And not even an army can get in the way." Amy Pond, A Good Man Goes To War**

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><p>"<em>You'll like this one," He said brightly as he hoped into her room, "But it'll be the last for a bit. You'll have to remind me to tell you stories."<br>"Why? Will you forget?"_

"_No," He disagreed fiercely, "But I won't know yet. There is nothing I will forget about you."_

"_I don't understand."  
>He kissed her forehead, "One day, you'll know better than I will."<em>

"_I better," She grumbled._

"_So, last story. How do you feel about dashing knights?"_

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><p><em><strong>The Knight <strong>_

And once, there was this boy. He fell in love with a girl, a beautiful young woman. Everyone else saw the young woman as a little strange, a little off, and a little odd, but he saw the dreamer underneath. He saw the little girl inside, hiding from the world.

The young woman had a name like a fairy tale, and was a beautiful as a princess. Her smile made him smile. They complimented each other very well; her passionate and dreamer like nature tempered by his calmness and ability to be grounded.

And he loved her.

He was loyal, and kind. When she took him away from his home, to sail around with a man in a box, he willingly came.

And he learned to like the man, and to him to became loyal.

So, when the man was about to be killed, the boy saved him.

But the boy died in return.

He came back; not as the boy, but as a knight, and when he found the girl, she didn't know him.

But he loved her, so he stayed with her and watched over her. She had forgotten their love, their life together, but he wasn't going to let her go again that easily.

So, when he accidentally killed her, he saved her. He did as the man asked, and trapped his ladylove in the box.

And then he guarded her for the next two thousand years. He couldn't leave her alone for that long; he wouldn't leave her alone ever again. They had both been alone too long.

But when she was released, the universe had to be saved, and then…

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><p><em>The story teller paused, and the girl frowned, "And then? That's not an end."<em>

"_No, that's not the end. It just gets complicated here on in."_

"_Liar."_

"_Am not."_

"_You always say 'it gets complicated' and it never is."_

"_It's always more complicated than you realize." He smiled at her eye roll. "I've felt that way often enough. Doesn't get any better."_

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><p>Then he met a young woman who was misunderstood. Then they got married.<p>

And the young woman found a man in words, and brought him back.

So, after one more dance, they stepped back inside the blue box, and traveled with the man once more.

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><p>"<em>Who are these people?"<em>

"_Spoilers," he grinned, "You'll find out some day."_

"_That means that's true. That's not what a fairytale is." She whispered. There were noises outside her door, down the hall. It sounded like a woman shouting, and a flash of steel. She could also hear a familiar buzzing noise._

"_Fact or Fiction, Melody Pond, it's still a fairytale. And one day, I promise you that you'll get a chance to live one yourself." He glanced at the door anxiously, "Melody, River, whatever name you're going by today, please remember this for me. You're going to be scared, but it's going to be alright. And, please, ask for a story someday soon." He kissed her on the forehead, "You'll be seeing me again, Melody. Very, very soon."_

"_Good night," She told him as he hoped into his disappearing blue box. He gave her a wink, and left._

_The door burst open, and he was standing there, a grin of success on his face, "Melody Pond! Or are you going by River Song now?" he clapped his hands together, "We've come to take you home. Your mum and your dad and me. In my time machine."  
>As she stared at him, the daughter of Amy Pond and Rory Williams realized what was happening, and smiled softly, "I've been waiting for you. Hello, Doctor."<em>

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><p><strong>The end! Thanks for reading the bed time stories! Please review!<strong>_  
><em>


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